A Fish Tale
by TheBeldam27
Summary: "Help! I'm a Fish!" A different look on the movie, had it actually had a moral and an extra character to round it out. It changes and allows a continuation of the movie, to see the what ifs; as for the new character; well, you'll have to read and find out. I own only my OC's all rights reserved.
1. Chapter 1

**A Fish Tale**

 **Just want to see how this story holds. Will probably tweak on later dates, so advance warning. I own nothing but my OC. All rights reserved.**

Chapter one: The butterfly effect

 _'I shouldn't be here. I must be insane. I have no reason to do this.'_

The silence was almost deafening underwater; but you could still hear the struggles and the whips of a frantic tail thrashing about as a certain lemon shark strived to free itself from a fishers net thoughtlessly casted away and forgotten.

Amazingly, it's little pilot fish companion stayed loyally by his side as if he was a dog to the shark, never to swim away from his master's side to seek another.

' _This was madness; certainly, I'm more likely going to be eaten the minute I free him.'_

The shark was now struggling so hard, the wire from the net was now digging into his sawpaper skin, leaving a nasty gash alongside his eye and fin.

 _'Mmh, why couldn't I just stay home and watch TV like a normal person?'_

With a shaky hand, one by one, the wires of the net were cut and gathered up, never to trap an unsuspecting victim again. The shark in question, its injury now alleviated, swam back to deeper waters, its pilot fish in tow. Before they left however, the pilot fish did something out of the ordinary; it looked into the squinted eyes of its friends savior, then swam right back to the protective side of its shark friend.

 _'I guess it was trying to say thank you.'_

The foreign pedestrian swam back to the surface and headed home on dry land.

 _'I wonder if saving that lemon shark was a good idea...nah, I'm overthinking it. I did a good thing and I'm sure that shark is grateful to be out of that net.'_

"Auntie Witch! Auntie Witch!"

"Auntie" turned to find a familiar pigtailed five-year-old bundle of curiosity tugging at her jacket.

"Stella, she's not our aunt. She's our neighbor that collects weird stuff washed up from the coast."

"Evening Fly. Hi Stella."

"Auntie, do you have any of those special red gooey fish?"

Knowing what she was talking about, "Antie" pulled out some of her gummy candies she made to look like fish. "I caught a whole school of them just this morning."

Stella gaped wide-eyed as she was given a generous handful of the fish treats.

"You see Fly, Auntie _**is**_ a witch, she can make fish into candy!" Stella held out her candy for Fly to see; who just rolled his eyes and swiped a fish to hang on the side of his mouth like a toothpick.

"Yep, and I almost didn't get them because of a great big lemon shark trapped near their reef."

Stella gasped as she imagined a big scary shark scaring all those little fishies.

"But you know what, I saved him, and his friend told me thank you himself."

"A fish didn't tell you thanks for saving his meal ticket; fish can't talk." Fly remarked snidely.

"Maybe they can, but your weren't listening."

In the distance, Fly and Stella's parents called for dinner.

"Well this was fun, see you later Rina."

"Bye Auntie Witch!" Stella and Fly ran home as Fly tried once again to explain that she wasn't a witch, or their aunt.

Rina smiled and headed back home to finish her oil color paintings; today's trip of testing fate with danger was nothing short of inspiring for a young artist such as her.

It still bothered her though; why was it she had this horrible feeling she made the wrong decision; like this impending doom that she was going to regret this later?

* * *

 **So what you think? Not bad after almost a dacade long clog. Will anything really change in the story of no real moral values, will there be perilous journies awaiting our new character? Why is the author so dashingly oblivious!? Till the next chapter...**

 **ll**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: The timing of it all**

 **This next chapter is to kinda add some Easter eggs for when the story progresses to the end; like a certain someone being involved here; no spoilers, all rights reserved.**

* * *

It was such a nice afternoon; the setting sun made the sky and the sea such a radiant view of orange and yellow with the hints of the familiar rich reds and bright pinks. It certainly wasn't an afternoon to pass up on sitting by the shoreline, skewing away the last few drops of pure sunlight, leaving its remnants on an aspiring artist.

As Rina sketched the last bits of the clouds onto her sketch pad, she felt satisfied that near nothing could ruin this moment.

"Hey chuck, come on over, give me a hand!"

Rina looked up from her finished work to see non other than Fly and Stella, plus some other chubby boy quivering in the shallows.

"Fly, look! Auntie witch is here!" Stella didn't hesitate to run over and give Rina a hug. Like clockwork, Rina shared some of her gooey fish and showed her the drawing she made.

"Wow, that looks beautiful!"

Back at the rocky cliff, Fly finally yanked what was stuck on the other end of his line.

This caught Stella's attention and rushed over to see what it was. Rina put away her art stuff in her bag and looked over too.

"Look Auntie, a little fishy."

"It's a Hippocampus Bulgarus." The chubby boy, Chuck said blandly.

Stella huffed "No it isn't. It's a girl!"

Rina sinkered at the child's naivety.

".I'm going to call her Sasha."

"It has to go back in the water Stella!" Chuck said firmly. While he was a little harsh; Rina agreed with him.

"He's right, she needs water to live." Rina added, noticing how "Sasha" was gasping in the little girl's tight grasp.

"Here Stella, give her to me." Fly offered.

"No."

"Stella, come on." Fly said in a surprisingly firm tone (I say surprisingly because he never talks seriously or firmly.)

"She's mine!" Stella said stubbornly.

"She'll die if you don't put her back." Again, Fly said in a sympathetic tone. Rina was a little impressed by the kid's growing maturity as he handled his little sister.

Sniffling, Stella finally admitted defeat and threw "Sasha" back in the water.

"I think we better go home." Chuck said, more than ready to leave even though they were only out for a few minutes.

"Come on Stella." Fly ushered his sister to his side. Rina too decided to retreat to her home; not that anyone was really waiting for her there.

Their path was cut short by a giant wave that seemed to come out of nowhere, rising the sea so the stepping rocks disappeared into the tide.

Rina's eyes grew wide "Oh no, I forgot about-"

"The tide." Chuck finished. The waves kept coming closer, cornering the four to the rocky wall.

"Fly, Auntie, help!"

"Do-don't worry sweetly, it'll be alright." Rina said, her attention on the rising water.

"Fly, Fly what did we do?" Chuck turned to see no Fly or Stella.

"Where'd they go?" Rina darted between Chuck and the spot Fly and Stella were just at.

"Fly! Fly, come back! Fly!" Chuck called out. A wave crashed up to knee length and made Chuck punch up against the wall, causing it to swing open. Both Chuck and Rina stumbled down a set of stairs, revealing a lit up passageway.

"Hey guys, check this place out. It's unbelievable. That tunnel might get us back to shore."

"Good thinking Fly!" Rina agreed. Chuck just gave an unimpressed glare before yet again, the fours attention was focused on the tide.

"The doors still open!"

Fly helped Chuck get to his feet and the made a run for it. The current caught up, snatching them up before they could make it up to the rest of the tunnel, detouring them into a opening in the ceiling.

"Stella, are you okay?" Rina asked, helping her up.

"I'm okay auntie." Stella hugged her, a little shaken from the ordeal.

Chuck looked to Fly questioningly. He just shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to find an exit.

They came across an opening to a cave, where a makeshift boathouse came into view.

The four were silent with both awe and slight fear as they cautiously made their way along the creaky deck to the boat house. Inside, there were test tubes and fish tanks with circuits and makeshift models of marine all over the ceiling.

"It's a laboratory." Rina concluded, peering over at the mouse that was nonchalantly munching on a peice of cheese, underwater.

"Hey, look at this." Fly took off a Diploma from the wall of various fish. "Professor Mac Krill."

"A PHD in marine biology, wow." Chuck noted, his admiration for scientists showing.

"Fly, Rina, I'm thirsty."

"Sorry, I don't have anymore water with me." Rina said, pulling out her two empty glass bottles.

"This professor guy could show us the way out."

"M-maybe we should go; a brilliant scientist probably won't like to be disturbed by ordinary people like us."

"And go where? It'll only take a few seconds, where's the harm?" Rina said soundly. Chuck nodded resentfully and continued up the steps.

Fly, who wasn't really paying any attention, bumped into a Fish model.

"Check out this Fish. 'Californian Flyfish'. Hey, That's a good looking fish" Fly said, obviously referring to the fish's similarities with his own name.

In the distance, mutterings of what Rina could guess sounded like a mix of algebra and compound formulas could be heard on the other side of a particularly large fish tank.

"Fly, I'm thirsty!" Fly and Rina both shushed her for fear of getting attention.

The scientist in question looked up, at the same time, his tank suddenly stirred into a school of piranha, startling the four.

So much for that.

"Fly, whose that man?" Stella hid behind him as the man in question grunted towards them.

Their fear was short lived though as the scientist turned on the light, revealing a humble looking man. Rina could guess he must've been here alone for a while, seeing as how he bumbled and mumbled so.

"I am, oh, uh. What was- I am..eh.."

"H.O. Mac Krill. Professor." Chuck offered.

Oh welcome welcome. Welcome welcome! I am a professor too!" Mac Krill said giddily.

"You must come and see my new experiments!"

Rina and Fly looked at each other and both agreed that this professors head wasn't screwed on just right, but they really didn't mind, he seemed nice enough.

Both the professor and Chuck began to ramble on about something relative to global warming and rising sea levels, Fly and Rina weren't really paying attention to the heavy science chargan. That is, until Mac Krill spoke of a way for human to survive underwater.

"Now, let me show you how to mix, FISH POTION!"

Was he for real? What scientist calls anything a potion?

Then, if this man couldn't get anymore odd, he starts singing all the ingredients for the, ahem, potion. Rina, observant as she was, pulled out a notepad and started jotting down all the ingredients. After it was finished, Mac Krill asked the boys to help fetch his camera and a tank for him to stand in. While they were busy, Rina took this opportunity to replicate the professor's potion.

' _I'll never know when I'll need it, and it'd be a good way to try to go treasure hunting without expensive scuba gear.'_ Rina knew better than to use it for profit, tat just wasn't how she was raised, but it didn't hurt to have her own personal stash and a recipe, right? Rina stopped in front of a tank with a tiny school of pilot fish, noticing a familiar bundle of eggs hiding beneath the seaweed.

"Start the camera, this moment must be immortalized!" Rina saw the professor in the tank, ready to sip the concoction while Fly ran the camera, wanting to see for himself if he would really turn into a fish.

"Cameras running, and action!"

"Miss, the professor's gonna perform the experiment." Chuck called out to Rina, who just finished the last ingredient for the potion. Carefully, Rina hid the tiny bottle in her bag. She didn't want the know-it-all lecturing her about anything.

"What were you doing over there?" Chuck asked suspiciously.

Rina kept her cool "I was just looking for something to drink to give Stella, see?" Rina pulled out the empty water bottle she had, making sure the other one was safely hidden behind her sketchbook.

"Finally, the time has come!" Mac Krill slowly put the drink to his lips, the boys anxiously awaiting what to expect.

Suddenly, the professor began a fit of giggles. "Stupid me, oh I almost forgot!"

The three were ushered into another room where the professor showed them the antidote for the fish potion "This potion is almost the same. But, in order to reverse the process, you just add some ground up kelp."

Kelp. Rina took a mental note for that. As he finished pouring some of the antidote into a spare bottle, the whole lab started blaring alarms and flashing red lights. As everyone was in a frenzy, Rina took her second bottle and filled it with the antidote, not noticing she emptied the whole canister before stashing her bag behind the tank of piranhas.

' _He's a scientist, he can make more later, plus he's a bit on the dense side for a marine biologist.'_

There it was again, that bad feeling again. What did it mean?

"Oh that's done it!" Mac Krill, having found the source of the alarm, began explaining how his fish tanks were pumped fresh seawater through various pumps directly from the ocean.

"Hey, any of you guys seen Stella?" Fly asked, looking around

"Who?"

"Uh no, not in the last six minutes." Chuck said in his usual monotone voice. You'd think he'd show a little concern for his family members.

"Stella?!"

Rina and Chuck paired up to go look for her. Chuck stumbled across the camera, pointing out that it was still running.

"Maybe it has Stella on it somewhere."

Both Chuck and Rina gasped in horror as they watched Stella turn into a Starfish! THE ONE THEY TOLD FLY TO PUT IN WATER! Chuck and Rina scrambled to stop Fly before he through Stella into the ocean.

Too late.

* * *

 **Now we see a little development, however subtle or unnoticeable they are. No flame pretty please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Any Last Regrets?**

 **Okay, chapter three officially up. Now for starters, no hate, no flame, I only own my OC's, Yada yada yada, ENJOY!**

* * *

Next thing they knew, all four were crammed into a rowboat, scouring the open sea for one tiny starfish. As the evening wore on, a storm began to creep along the sky. It was beginning to look hopeless.

"Nothing! I see nothing!" Even with a telescope (mostly meant for astronomical use, mind you) the professor couldn't find anything on the seafloors resembling a starfish.

"Awe, forget it! If we can't see her, then there's only one thing to do!" Fly reached for the potion, with every intention of drinking it.

"Stop! Wait, i-if you don't get the antidote within forty-eight hours, you'll be a fish forever!"

Not heeding his warning, Fly took a long swig of the potion and dived headfirst into the water.

As the three watched Fly turn into a fish from the surface, an enormous tidal wave barrel rolled the boat, leaving only Rina and the professor on the rowboat before they too was overboard. Rina, thinking ahead, grabbed both potions before being thrown off, took a sip of the red one, and tossed it to Chuck.

"Drink the potion! I'll find you and bring back the antidote before it's to late!" Rina called out above the waves thrashing her away from Chuck and the professor, knocking her out cold.

Chuck grabbed the bottle just before being completely submerged underwater. With no choice in the matter, he finished off the potion, and began to swim.

* * *

'You never think things through! You are such a selfish girl, Rina. It would've been better for our family if you had never been born!'

Rina awoke with a start, her head still spinning and her stomach was in knots. Her vision cleared up just enough to make out a yellow bottle of, smoke? That want smoke, that was the antidote contents spilling into the sea!

Rina quickly capped the bottle and held it close to her.

'I really hope there weren't any fish swimming around that breathed that.'

"What happened? Woah! What's that sound?"

Uh oh.

Rina looked up to see a giant shark and a smaller fish, completely amazed by their own sudden ability to speak.

The smaller fish, Rina now recognized was a pilot fish, began sputtering in utter amazement by his speech.

"Hmm. I believed, we have acquired the power of speech, my ferocious friend," he closed his eyes and began sipping the water for more traces of the antidote. "I can talk. I can think."He was so busy pulling for more of the antidote, he bumped right into Rina, who placed the bottle behind your back.

"Talking fish." Was all she could muster.

"Uh, I do beg your pardon-"

"Your a talking fish!"

"So are you, you little snack!" The shark chirped in.

You could knock her over with a feather at that point. Rina looked down and saw the shark was right! She had fins and a tail instead of arms and legs. She felt her face and neck to find her nose was gone and she had gill openings on the sides of her neck.

She didn't dare wish to look in a mirror.

The fish grabbed the bottle from behind her and held it up. "See?"

Rina looked at the reflection staring back at her in amazement "Oh... My... Fish..." She just couldn't believe it, good god, she was a fish!

"And might I add you make quite a fetching pilot fish."

Rina lowered her eyes at the fish's remark. She hardly spoke two words and already it was hitting on her?

Rina snatched the bottle away, turning her attention back to finding the kids. "That's nice. Well this was nice, so I'm gonna go-"

"Not so fast, angelfish!" The fish snatched the bottle back and swam behind his sharp-toothed associate. "I've got plans for this concoction." He stared at the bottle with greedy glint in his eyes Rina was too familiar with. He then turned his attention to the shark, "Can you feel the power? Can you, taste it?"

"Taste it?! Oh, food!" The dense shark chomped on a nearby fish, only registering mostly his instincts verses his newfound intelligence. The smaller fish rolled his eyes at his dense friend's lack of maturity; and grimacing as he belched Fish remains right in his face.

"Oi! Clean my teeth! There's stuff in the cracks!"

"Henceforth, oral hygiene is no longer my department."

"What?" The shark asked, a little confused at the vocabulary used.

"I don't clean anymore, try dental floss," the fish advised a bit dismissively. "From now on, **I** call the shots. With this brain power, I can have fame. Fortune. Servants."

That did it, Rina officially did not like this fish.

"Look here at this potential flunky." He swam over to a stray crab and dowsed him with a small drop of the antidote.

"Wait a minute! I need that to get home!" Rina tried to stop him before the shark barred his teeth at her. Rina glared back.

'He looks familiar,' Rina took notice of the features on his face, her eye suddenly wide in surprise as she spotted a faded scar along his eye going all the way to his fin.

"Attention!" The crab from before saluted the fish, marching like a drill sergeant.

"So, uh, you guy have names?" Rina asked offhandedly.

"Um, no. Did we lose them?" The shark responded naively.

"She's right. We should have names to match our new intelligence levels." The fish pondered this for a moment. "Joe."

"Joe who?" The shark asked.

"Me Joe."

Rina snickered.

"What's so funny!?" Joe glared.

"Kinda average for a name."

"Oh! Can I have a name!?" The shark cut in.

"You can be shark." Joe deadpanned.

"No he won't. He needs a name that fits him." Rina looked up at the shark who stared blankly back at her.

"Brutus. Not to long, not to hard. Perfect tough guy name."

"Brutus. I like it." Brutus smiled widely, showing all rows of his sharp teeth.

"Fascinating; you actually remembered your name. Now quit your lollygagging! I have a nation to build."

"Whatever you say, average-joe." Rina said sarcastically.

Joe growled while Brutus just snickered a bit.

"By the way, my name's Rina."

"Charmed."

Rina forced a smile. 'Okay Joe, I'll let you have your fun. It'll make your downfall much more harder to bear... I just hope the boys can find Stella before it's to late...'

* * *

"Mommy!" Stella woke up with a start as her blankie swam away, unaware of the environment surrounding her.

Naively, she held her breath when she recognized she was underwater. A small gasp escaped when she saw her hand was now a stubby orange appendage. A school of fish swam by the reef, knocking Stella off her footing. She braced herself for a hard fall, only to gently float down.

She liked this kind of falling.

Her face brightened as she recognized an old friend munching on some sea kelp as she floated back to the sea floor.

"Hi Sasha!" Stella waved to the seahorse, startling it.

Stella landed softly on the ocean floor while her curious friend looked on with confusion.

"Don't you remember me?" The seashores in question just stared at her quizzicality.

"Wanna play?" Stella toddled over to the seahorse, causing it to swim away. Stella wasn't phased, however, and grabbed the unsuspecting seahorse by the tail, holding on with a tight grip as it swam in streaks along the reef right into some bubbling coral. Finally, it stopped as it watched Stella in awe as she floated atop of the bubbles. Seeing that there was no real threat, Sasha swam playfully around the talking starfish. Their fun was cut short when they ran out of bubbles to keep Stella up, and she floated right onto an open clam that snapped shut on her.

"Stella!" Now a talking flyfish came out of nowhere and aided the talking starfish trapped inside the clam. The seahorse could only stare with wide eyes, how truly remarkable.

"Fly! It was so dark and I'm, so scared." Stella sniffled in Fly's, er, fins as he held his baby sister close.

"Don't cry Stella, it's okay. Hey check it out, we're fish! Isn't that cool?" Fly proceeded to cheer his little sister up by showing her things they couldn't see as people; like a whole flock of jellyfish, schools of bright red fish, and riding wild sea horses.

One particular seahorse Fly was riding bucked him right into a Jellyfish, with glasses.

"Fly? Stella?"

Both siblings laughed at their blobby, see through cousin.

"You're a jellyfish?" Fly managed to chortle out.

Chuck turned from blue to red, obliviously not amused by the lack of maturity.

"We don't have time for jokes." Chuck huffed, proceeding to continue his search.

"What are you looking for?" Stella followed him on her seahorse.

"You know what, I finally figured you out Chuck. I can see right through you!" Fly laughed as he saw Stella and Sasha on the other side of Chuck's head.

Chuck rolled his eyes at the pun. "When you are through making wisecracks, maybe you can help me find the antidote."

"The what? The antidote?"

Chuck explained how the storm from last night got worse when Fly left. It got so bad, their boat sank, along with the professor. He explained how he couldn't swim, so he had no choice but to take the potion right after Rina, who also took the potion. Also, Chuck explained how Rina was the only one he knew who had the antidote last, so they had to find her before their forty-eight hours were up, or they would be fish forever.

Instant panic.

Just hen, the kids overheard talking in the distance. An eel, a shrimp, and a flounder stood beside a sardine can, conversing about evolution and getting to take a bus.

Which was apparently running five minutes late.

"Excuse me, but how come you can all speak?"

"Well you speak yourself, you should know!" The flounder snapped.

Fly shuddered a bit, not really sure what to say.

"It's like this, we owe our present capabilities to Joe, and his magic potion."

"Joe?"

"Magic potion?" Chuck clarified.

"You should really hear Joe talk." The eel swooned. "He's so inspiring. Oh, I hope there's room for us at the meeting."

Chuck attempted to get more information about the potion when the bus, or rather a whale, drove up.

"Oh lookie there, here she comes." The shrimp said.

"And about time too!" The flounder griped.

"Now mind your manners, ladies first."

"Oh thank you dear." The eel slithered up to the fish driver, handing out what seemed to be Fish currency.

Fly gathered up stray shells and whipped them out to the driver to get on board. When the driver said they weren't valid, Fly used his cousin's glasses to swindle them tickets, allowing them to ride for free.

"Next time, have exact change!" The flustered driver called to the sneaky fly fish.

"And what would've happen if it didn't work, genius?"

* * *

"Don't you think you've made enough fish smart already?" Rina followed Joe through the hall of the abandoned cruise liner. She glanced at the accelerated development some of these fish have done with their newfound intelligence. She was still amazed that this one fish started a bus system using whales to heard more fish to the ship.

"My dear, you will never appreciate the work put into making a nation until it soars to the surface. You're lucky to have such a big role in my vision."

"As what?"

"My advisor of the surface world."

While Rina kept an eye on Joe and the potion, she had to entertain him with stories she remembered from history and literature class to keep Joe off her case about the contents of the potion, or at least to allow her to stay by him and his shark friend. Through these bits of information, Joe cranked out new jobs for every fish he made smart. This pleased him greatly; showing his interest in all her stories and the wonders of the surface world.

The world of the humans.

He was beginning to take a shine to the female of his species, even if she had a sarcastic tongue every once in a while. It was good she was so young. So full of life.

So beautiful...

"Ey! Rina!" Brutus bumped into the two fish, knocking them into the door to the meeting room.

"What is it Brutus?"

"I, er, oh! I got you a pretty shell!" Brutus held out a simple pink shell with red stripes on it. He began this habit of collecting shiny things from the sea floor shortly after Rina's introduction.

She politely accepted the trinket and admired it greatly. "Oh how pretty. Thank you!" Rina gushed, patting the shark on his snout. He blushed bashfully at the affectionate way she approached him; unlike the brash dismissiveness his boss gave him.

"If you two are quite done," Joe gritted, gesturing to his awaiting public.

"Go ahead. Use up the last of the potion. Don't say I didn't warn you." Rina took this as her leave and proceeded to Joe's office to wait for him. Joe allowed that comment to pass; he still had plans for her later to find out where to get more.

"She's a fine specimen to admire, I just can't look over that mouth of hers."

"Yeah boss. She's so pretty, and nice..." Brutus gushed, fawning over her soft kindness.

Joe wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was a little jealous of the shark. Ever since they met, she was nothing but nice to his shark associate, almost motherly. At first, he thought it was just so the shark wouldn't eat her, but he knew from his own turmoil he didn't have nearly that much sincerity and kindness for the brute, faking or not.

She was being nice to him for a completely different reason, the problem was, Joe couldn't figure out why.

And why was it he was so captivated by her eyes? They were so blue. They were almost, familiar...

"Hey boss, the place is full of fish now. So many snacks..."

Brutus snapped Joe back to reality. Of course, all will be revealed after he had a little chat with her; right now, his adoring public awaited him.

* * *

 _'I suppose your proud of yourself now? Letting an insignificant Fish become a dictator over the sea? What if he doesn't stop? What if he takes his reign to the surface? You still need to find the kids and change them back; what do you think they'll say of you when you tell them that you gave their only ticket to being human away to that fishcake? You didn't even think that far ahead. Did you!?'_

Rina groaned as she struggled to keep her head together; she couldn't stand all those loud, obnoxious opinions drowning out her own thoughts, no signs of stopping for one second of peace. It was the reason she left home; all those voices ringing in her ear from her family and their snobby friends; it was suffocating.

 _'So pathetic_ _. Sad. Worthless. Useless. Incompetent stain.'_

Nothing. They were nothing but pointless remarks and brash comments, without a single just reasoning behind any of them. And why? Because she was, different. She wasn't incompetent, she wasn't a stain, and she **did** have a plan. She just wasn't finished with it yet.

 _'If I only knew where those kids swam off to-'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open. Joe took his usual seat on the desk they found on the cruise liner, overviewing his soon-to-be monument.

"So what new species did you 'resurrect' today?" Rina quickly composed herself and resumed her usual carefree attitude.

Joe ignored her and asked for Brutus to put someone in the chair across from him, saying that he'd attend to them shortly after his call. The shark spat out four fish onto the chair harshly.

Rina stiffened.

"Fly? Stella?"

"Auntie!"

Rina quickly swam towards the starfish and her new friend, hugging and inspecting her of any injuries.

"I was so worried something bad happened to you."

"Rina, the potion…" Chuck whispered, pointing to Joe, who was still on the phone about his monument.

"I know. I'm working on it, just leave it to me…" Rina finished just as Joe slammed his makeshift fish phone, concluding his "call".

"Sorry, do I have kept you waiting?" Joe snapped his fins, summoning fish servants. They roughly stuffed kelp rolls into Fly's and Chuck's mouth. Rina shrugged at the kids, figuring that was as close as Joe could get to acting hospitable.

"Please, have a snack. Your enthusiasm at the meeting touched me deeply; I wish all of my followers would show the same devotion." Joe gushed with false gratitude.

Bull- Roy. His followers did show devotion; the kids were just more free-spirited, especially Fly.

"Now tell me all you know about this divine cocktail, and I will tell you about my great plans for you-"

"Served in oyster sauce-" Brutus said out loud; Joe clamping his mouth shut and diverting his attention to some "candy", I.E, the fish servants.

"Hold up. You lost me, how do you know whether or not they know anything about what your talking about?" Rina questioned carefully.

"They were at the meeting and this, charming young fish," he gestured to Fly, "Tried to take a sip when his friend here stopped him and said something, interesting…"

Rina turned to Chuck, who shrunk at little at his unintentional blunder; they were here partly because of him too, not just Fly.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes, the bottle." Joe turned back to the kids; where Fly just ran out of patience.

"Give it back, it's ours!" Again, Fly tried to snatch the bottle away, only to be blocked by the shark who spat out the remains of his "candy".

"We had it first!" Stella chirped up.

"We need it to become human again." Chuck tried to explain.

"We're not really fish, honest." Fly added.

Rina knew it was no too tried to explain to Joe she was a human, but finally admitted defeat and reworked her story saying she was a test subject to become human.

Yeah; without proof, that's how dense he got.

"Joe; listen to the kid. I mean think about it; do you recall giving the potion to either of these kids? Do you recognize any of them?" Rina tried to rationalize.

"Well no-"

"And even if you did; why do they seem to know more about the potion than you do? Remember, you only gave out tiny drops."

"Em, well, uh-"

"So they aren't any of your subordinates, and they aren't from here, so logically, you have to assume that they're telling the truth" Rina concluded.

"Hmm, touché. So that also means they know the recipe for this magical brew. How about we strike a deal-"

Rina intentionally scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Now what?" Joe asked in an agitated tone.

"You're gonna strike a deal, with children?"

"So you're saying you know the recipe? Considering you were there as a , ahem, test subject?" Joe swam till he was eye to eye with Rina.

Rina quickly glanced at the kids in the corner pod her eye, who sat quietly waiting for her answer. Chuck frantically nodded no, that she mustn't tell him the recipe.

Rina gave a reassuring nod and turn back to Joe.

"Yes, I do. I've seen that scientist make it so many times, I could do it in my sleep. There's just one catch."

"Do tell," Joe said, grinning with anticipation.

Rina smiled "I'll only tell you if you let these kids go home. Besides, they'd just be in the way. You know how kids are."

"Sounds reasonable. Done."

"B-b-but Rina-"

"Crab!" Joe called for his commander who scurried in hurriedly.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"See these children out, and gather your troops. We're going on a little field trip."

"Sir, Yes sir!" Commander Crab got hold of Sasha's tail, forcing the Fly and Chuck to follow them out.

"Rina, wait! We still need the potion!" Fly tried to swim back, once again blocked by a snarling Brutus. Fly struggled as the shark herded him back with Chuck and Stella out the door.

"Hmm, you know I really should say goodbye before they leave, they really aren't all that bad." Rina said in a cool tone.

"Very well, but make it quick, we have work to do."

Rina quickly caught up to Fly and Chuck, who were both trying their hardest to bypass the brute.

"Could you give us a moment? I want to make sure they don't lose their way and get lost."

"Ma'am, it's against regulations for a commanding officer to-"

"DON'T GIVE HER ANY LIP, DO WHAT RINA TELLS YOU TO!" Brutus bellowed at the now petrified crab.

"Thank you Brutus. This'll only take a minute" Rina chirped cheerfully, heading over to the gang.

"Rina, what are doing? We need to get that potion back!" Fly said in a hushed shout.

"Yeah, I mean, what're you thinking, letting him use the potion?" Chuck followed up, truly

"Do you not like us anymore?" Stella piped in, her big round eyes turned up at Rina like a little puppy.

"Of course I do sweetie, I always did. I just need to handle this alone; I don't want to see any of you get hurt, or worse" Rina hugged the young starfish and her seahorse companion and turned to Fly and Chuck. "Look, back at the professors lab, there is a bottle of anti-fish potion. Go there, wait for me till morning. If I'm not back by noon tomorrow, find a way inside the lab and get that potion no matter what"

Fly nodded in understanding; Rina was going to stall the pilot fish in order to keep them out of danger, even if it meant the risk of becoming a fish forever.

Chuck gave a concerned look"B-b-but Rina, the professor's ventilation shafts, the piranhas, they'll chew us to bits. There's no way we'll be able to make it out-"

"Times up! Let's go fish!" The crab clamped a hold of Fly's tail and gave him a hard fling out the porthole, Chuck in tow. Rina gave Stella one more goodbye hug, biting back the urge to cry when she saw her sniffing.

"Remember Stella, no matter what." And with that, Rina shoved her and Sasha out and closed the porthole herself, any chance of leaving with them now gone.

"Now let's get Joe; we're gonna need all the help we can get. Let him know to get as many empty bottles possible!" Rina swallowed down her grief and pressed on helping make Joe more fish potion. Rina only hoped whatever she had planned at that point in time would work, otherwise being a fish forever was going to be the least of her worries.

 _'Please let this turn out alright...'_

* * *

 **Oooh, cliffhanger. I live for cliffhangers, you never know what's gonna happen till you read the next chapter for more! Till then, see you in the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: As the Tide Turns**

 **Yay, next chapter! This is where things start to heat up! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Now what? We don't have the antidote, the professor is dead, and he was the only one who knew the formula. That, plus now we lost Rina to that crazy egotistical fish! How are we going to explain that to our parents?!"

After they were kicked out, the three kids swam as fast as they could through the forest of sea kelp, away from the cruise liner and back to where Rina told them to go, the professor's boat lab.

"Were you even listening to Rina? There's a whole bottle of antidote back at the lab." Fly said, his speed remaining unchanged. "We just have to make it there by sundown tomorrow, then we can figure out a way to save her."

"But Fly, that's way to dangerous! We'll get chewed to bits for sure!"

"But Auntie Witch said to wait for her there, Chuck. She promised she'd be there tomorrow, she promised."

Fly and Chuck stopped swimming turned their attention to Stella, still sniffling behind them after leaving and saying goodbye to "Auntie".

Chuck gave a sigh. "Stella, Rina only said that so we'd escape without argument. I'm sorry Stella."

The starfish began whimpering and hugged her companion who nuzzled her comfortingly.

Fly glared at his jellyfish cousin for making his sister cry like that. He knew Chuck was a drag, but he didn't have to go that far. What was his problem? "So we can't even make it back to the lab for the antidote. What do we do now, whip up a bottle of potion out of our ears?"

"Real funny Fly. We don't even know the formula, and the only potion left was back at that cruise liner. It's hopeless."

The formula. Ignoring his cousin, Fly pondered a moment before suddenly recalling something. "And the tiny whiskers of a….codfish!" His face lit up at remembering the funny song McKrill used to remember the recipe.

"Can I have ketchup on mine?" Stella asked, finished with her tears.

Fly adjusted his hat and began whistling the song to recall more of the ingredients.

"Uh Fly, are you feeling okay?"

"This is great, we can make the potion ourselves. All of the ingredients are underwater. Look!" Fly pointed to a bed of sea anemones, the first ingredient to the potion.

"Stella, you and Sasha go grab some of those red flowers while me and Chuck go pick some kelp."

"Fly, what exactly are we doing?"

"You said it yourself Chuck; if we can't reach the antidote back at the lab; then we're gonna make it ourselves!" Fly stated triumphantly. Chuck wanted to argue that they had to find all of the ingredients in a giant sea, but Fly did have a point; they really have a lot of options left and they were running out of time.

"Fine. Let's go make the potion, but don't go yelling at me if this plan of yours doesn't work!"

"It will work; you're forgetting something Chuck,"

"What's that?"

"The force is with us!"

Sliding aside the Star Wars reference, Chuck followed Fly into the kelp forest and found a crooked corkscrew bottle.

"Ready. Steady. Gather. GO!"

* * *

"Are you sure it's supposed to be red?"

Back at the cruise liner; Joe was doing his own version of gathering. Through the direction of Rina, nearly every sentient fish was appointed the task to find every last ingredient for the potion.

Well, almost every ingredient.

"I told you: The potion you have is about a week old; when it sits for a long period of time, It changes from red to yellow. Think of it as a fermentation process."

"I see, but it-"

"Quit worrying about the color; if anything, it'll just be a little weaker then potion that's had time to sit." Rina snapped, her stomach already queasy from all the close calls she had just harvesting the ingredients. Who knew octopi were so scary when you're only eight inches long?

"Very well then; I'm off to the meeting. Make sure the chowderheads don't touch them until I return for a refill." Joe uncapped the bottle and downed the last few precious drops; groaning a little as he grew fingers and tufts of hair above his eyes. Once again, he swam to a crowd of awaiting fish ready to bask in everyone just falling in line and adoring him. The limelight. The appealing adoration. All those fish telling him exactly what he wanted to hear, doing everything he asked, no friction or arguments...

"What's the appeal about requiring so many fish to consider you a superior over them?" Rina said out loud. Joe gave her a questioning look. " I mean, I never understood how someone could put themselves in that situation where they were so dependent on others opinions of them. Isn't that a little pointless?"

"Pointless?!" Joe swam up eye to eye with Rina's, fuming. "Is all the work put into making these miserable kelp suckers more useful pointless? Is wishing to evolve marine life to reach their full potential pointless? Is being an intelligent leader pointless?!"

"You're only evolving these fish so that they can worship you and build a monument in your likeness."

"And what's wrong with having my subjects show a little gratitude for the opportunities I gave them?"

"You actually need a giant stone statue to feel appreciated? Oh yeah, real modest. You know one day, they're going to start developing their own opinions about you."

Joe suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I mean, sure, you can use Brutus here to bite their tongues and keep quiet about it, but that won't change what they'll think about you; some might start wondering why something as low as a pilot fish became so powerful, how come they couldn't have that? Even more so, how come a shark bigger than you or stronger than you isn't calling the shots? Isn't it always the one higher on the foodchain who sits pretty on the top? And one more thing- what if they begin to rise against you, and drive you out of your precious kingdom, _mister prince of the whales?"_

Joe gritted his teeth and motioned for Crab to seize Rina. "Get this insufferable fish out of my sight! I'm done with her!" Joe turned back to the meeting entrance, his shark friend whimpering as he saw Rina be led away by her tail.

"You know I'm right! I certainly didn't need a statue made in my honor when I saved your friend from that razor net! Remember that!?" Rina shouted just as the doors slammed shut in her face. Joe didn't catch what she said, and frankly didn't care. Brutus, for as dense and slow as he was mentally, did.

The crab eagerly threw the pilot fish out the porthole, slamming it shut.

 _'Finally, now for phase two_.' Rina swam and backtracked to Joe's office, where he stored the bottles of potion. Quickly, Rina smashed through the already broken window and began bailing bottle after bottle of potion into the ship's sprinkler system. After stocking up on the potion, Joe had taken this opportunity to invite every one of his Fish subjects into the meeting hall to tell the good news; if the sprinkler system did what Rina hoped it did, they'd all turn back to normal. Rina dumped the last of the potion into the tank and started cranking the valve. It rumbled and squeaked horrendously, but it did its job of carrying the special water to the right place; the meeting hall.

 _'Don't act all confident just yet, girl. You still have time for this to go south, then you'll be in serious trouble...'_

She could hear through the she doors all the fish screaming frantically as the potion began leaking from the sprinkler ducks, surrounding them all in a big red mist.

"Hmpth, serves you right, you pig-headed, selfish bottom feeder!"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SERVENTS!"

Rina turned around, her face paled as Joe uncovered his mouth and gills and discarded a piece of fabric to the ground.

"But weren't you-"

"I returned to get more potion because I finished the rest of the bottle!" Joe followed up on this showing the now empty bottle with the professor's logo on it.

Rina didn't bother to talk her way out of this one; she only registered she needed to get back to Fly and the others and change back before they were doomed to eternity being Fish forever. Once again, that crab attempted to make a grab for her. She easily whacked his helmet shut over his eyes and diverted him blindly over to Joe and Brutus. He grabbed Joe in a chokehold and began thrashing him around. "Shark! Don't just sit there like an imbecile, she's getting away!"

Brutus looked to Rina, she was just inches away from the porthole. Something in him told him to stay put; he couldn't do it, she was just so nice to him. He may have been a dumb shark, but even he knew what love was. "Shark, what are you doing?"

"My name's not 'Shark', it's Brutus!" Brutus grabbed Joe and Crab and threw them to the wall. Rina looked on in complete awe at the scene playing out before her. Brutus gave a little wave and sniffled a bit as she shut the porthole closed. He was gonna miss her loving face smiling at him fondly.

Joe managed to recover from the Crab's incessant jabs and proceeded to contemplate how to handle his two subordinates. "Useless, the pair of you! You're not fit for sushi! I sentence you to execution!"

Brutus didn't really understand what he meant, so he wasn't really phased. "Er, what's that?"

Joe facepanned then proceeded to explain. "Shark, chew up this useless crab," he pointed to the commander Crab who was quivering at the thought of becoming food, "then eat yourself when your finished."

"Ye-uh..." Brutus put two and two together and sneered angrily at the pilot fish.

Upon seeing his muscle lackey staring at him with such intimidating protest, the sound of Rina's last parting words echoed in Joe's mind.

 _'They will rise up against you and drive you out...'_

"Er, I mean, no. No, that won't do. My mistake; no one has to execute themselves in a civilized society" Joe turned to his remaining army; the ones he posted outside the hall and remained sentient. "You there!" He pointed at a tubby red fish.

"What me?"

"Yes you! Because of your long and loyal service to me; I hereby appoint you chief executioner."

 _'This will be a much more civilized punishment; there's no that brute could-'_

CHOMP! Brutus ate that poor fish, again showing his sheer protest.

Joe nervously tried to rework the situation before it got ugly. "Um, on the other fin, we can just call it water under the bridge; a great leader is distinguished by his ability to forgive." Joe concluded, slightly ashamed he had to resort to that. "Shark, I hereby appoint you, offensive commander!" There was no way the shark'd want to cross him now; he gave a sigh of relief when the shark shouted everyone at attention, satisfied with his command. "Go and get me that infuriating pilot fish, and bring her to me, now!"

Brutus froze a little at who his boss was referring to; again, for as little brains as he had, he knew he didn't want anything bad to happen to his little fishy friend.

* * *

"Now, all we need is an octopus, then we'll be human again. I'm almost gonna miss being a fish, but a double cheeseburger will remedy that."

Back at the cove near the professor's lab, the three kids searched the littered rocky floor beds for anything that resembled an octopus. They spent most of the night gathering the other ingredients, leaving them a whole six hours before sunset to look for the remaining ingredient. Fly had to hand it to Rina, if she wasn't there to save their hides, who knows what that fish was gonna do to them. They were tired, hungry, but they were only one step away from becoming human again.

"Fly, listen to me! If we find an octopus, and I say if, how are we gonna get it to spray ink? An octopus is thirty times bigger than us, and only sprays ink when it's scared!" Chuck, even though they had spare time, still found a reason to panic about not becoming human on time.

"Hey look, there's a mirror!" Fly remembered how the professor used it to get his octopus to spray ink.

"Fly, did you hear what I said?"

"Look what we found!" Stella waddled over to the pair, wanting to show them the toy rocking horse that reminded her of Sasha.

"Are you two out of your minds?! It'll be sunset in about six hours! You hear me, six hours! We will never breathe a breath of fresh air again. Fish for life!"

Fly didn't really see what the big deal was, maybe if he said twelve minutes or something, he'd be more concerned.

"Look what I found! A waterproof watch! Look, look I can use it as a belt! Then I know exactly how long I have until I'm doomed!" Chuck began mocking what Fly and Stella were doing earlier, nonchalantly combing the sea floor for junk like there was nothing wrong.

"Chuck! Listen, I have a plan. We scare the octopus with the mirror just like the professor did, see?"

"Oh yeah, is that all? First we need to find an octopus. Then we need to get in the open. Then we need to-"

"You're always talking about what won't work? Why are you always so negative?!"

"Because unlike you Fly, I use logic."

"Where was that logic when we left Rina alone with that fish, huh Chuck? Where was your logic when we were probably inches away from being locked up, and Rina had to swoop in to bail us out?"

Chuck closed his mouth on that one. He was right, partially. If he hadn't blurted out to Fly about taking the potion at the bottom of the ocean, maybe they could've found another way to get the potion back. But they never got that far.

"Are you two fighting, or just disgusting?"

The boys turned to see none other than Rina hugging Stella fondly by her side.

"Rina! You're alive!" Fly rushed over to Rina, not caring if he was being all girly and hugging her.

"Well of course I'm alive, I told you I'd meet up with you guys just after morning, and here I am!"

"I knew you'd come, Chuck didn't think so."

Chuck shrunk a little and swam over to her. "We thought you weren't gonna make it."

"I got a little sidetracked with that fish."

"Ooh, what'd you do?" Fly asked all intrigued about what she did.

"Made fish potion and reverted all of his loyal subjects back to their normal, non sentient selves using the ship's sprinkler system."

"You did that? Wow." Chuck said admiringly.

Their little reunion was cut short after the floor began to move. The sand scattered away to reveal giant red tendrils curling and uncurling. The four stared in fear as the head of a giant octopus emerged from the sandy floor!

Fly wasted no time in trying to scare it to spray ink using the mirror, determined to get the last ingredient they worked so hard to find. It wasn't going too well; the octopus snatched Chuck and Fly in its tentacles, breaking the mirror in the process. Rina and Stella could only look on in fear as they dreaded what it would do next. Suddenly, as quick as it appeared, the octopus sprayed a cloud of black ink in their faces and jetted away.

"I-it swam away," Fly coughed out. "It got scared by our screams, and look!" Fly gathered the remaining ink in the bent shell, "We got the last ingredient for our potion, we're saved!"

"Potion?" Rina didn't follow, only just arriving moments ago. She turned to Chuck but froze.

"Fly...that's what scared the octopus..." Chuck pointed to the large army of swordfish behind them. At the head of the army, was Joe and Brutus.

"Well well well. Just in time for happy hour." Joe grinned as his remaining troops surrounded Rina and the others.

Rina stood her ground, er, fins in front of the kids. If she bailed them out once, she'd do it again.

"Well, my smartalic sardines, catfish got your tongues?" Joe egged on.

"We just want to go home, is that to much to ask?!" Rina snapped. Joe glared at her, his patience for her mouth just running out.

"You didn't have anymore potion, oh no. You just refused to cooperate," Joe held out the empty bottle of potion again, pretending to get the last few drops, only to find there was none. "Empty. Oh well, we can always make some more, or you can **die**!" Joe swam up to them, towering over Rina.

"Guys! You have to go through the ventilation system, now!" Rina pushed them on, away from Joe

"No, we're not leaving you again." Fly turned to Joe, "I'll smash it if you come any closer!"

Joe panicked as Fly held up the bottle of what he knew was the only potion available to him. "Stop!"

"Not another inch!" Fly held the bottle up higher, out of reach.

"Now now, calm down. Let's not be too hasty here!"

"Fly hasty? Who came here with an army threatening to kill us?!" Rina retorted, loving every time she made that fish frustrated.

"Let Rina and the others go, then we'll talk!"

 _"Fly, what are you doing?"_ Rina pulled Fly back to the group.

"No Fly. For once, think before you speak!" Chuck implored, hoping Fly would finally listen to reason.

"Why not just eat the little jerks!?" Brutus bellowed in, way past any sense of patience for negotiations. "We don't need no potion, we're smart enough already!" Brutus concluded surprisingly soundly.

Joe kept his cool, and swam toward the shark."My dear friend, my loyal commander," Joe heavily layered on, "Did you understand **anything** about my society of exceptionally intelligent fish?"

"Oh yeah, yeah! I get it! Intelligent fish!" Brutus answered excitedly. Rina hid her smirk at what Joe was gonna pull next. He truly was a stupid fish.

"You got it. Now, get this: YOU'RE FIRED, YOU SAWTOOTH SEAWEED SUCKER!"

And... there was her opening. Rina shushed the others and managed to maneuver behind Joe and made her way to Brutus.

"Oh Brutus, sweetie, I'm so sorry." Rina cooed, petting the shark's snout affectionately. He responded with a small happy hum, glad that despite all the trouble his boss caused her, she was still so kind to him. "You shouldn't have to put up with that, Brutus. He has no right to treat you that way, I mean, you are bigger than him. And so much stronger..."

Brutus glowered his eyes into slits. She was right.

 **"That does it!"** Brutus snatched Joe away from Fly as he was in the middle of trying to manipulate him into handing over the potion (as if Fly ever would, deal or no deal). **"You promised, you did!"**

"You're taking this the wrong way!" Joe choked out through the shark's tight grip.

 **"Oh really? Then how should I take it?"**

"Now's our chance, let's move!"

"Couldn't agree more Fly!" Rina quietly shouted, joing up with the others.

"They're getting away!" Joe squirmed.

 **"YOU STAY PUT!"** Brutus held his ex-friend in place. "Go on Rina, I won't let him hurt ya anymore!"

"Thank-whoa!" Rina stumbled in her swimming as she bumped into Fly, who was hanging on for dear life as the crab tried to get the potion.

"Fly, let go or he'll kill you!"

"Fly, look out!" Rina wrapped her fins around Fly just as the crab swung his claws at Fly, taking most of the hit. Slightly shaken, Fly and Rina's faces grew pale in fear as the crab recovered from the fall, growling down at them. He made one more hard swipe, this time to finish them.

Fly closed his eyes, fearing the impact, but it never came. Instead, he felt a push followed by a cry of pain. He opened his eyes in horror; Rina tumbled in the sand, blood coming from where the crab had sliced off her side, probably where her leg would've been. She saved him.

"Ha! Forget commander! Now I'm the ruler, I'm king!" The crab guzzled the potion whole, grunting as he began to form fingers and a bigger intellect, just like Joe did earlier.

As King Crab was busy being saluted as ruler, Fly and the others rushed to Rina's side.

"Auntie, you got a tummy ache?" Stella stroked Rina's fins gently.

"No, don't worry about me sweetie. I'll be alright; it's nothing, really." Rina began to go in and out of consciousness, losing more and more blood from her cut.

Stella looked on at Rina, her face still unchanged with concern. "Help!"

"Oh! The royal brewers, I got plans for you!" King Crab gathered his army and began surrounding the four fish.

"Fly, what do we do?" Chuck looked back at Rina with both fear and concern.

"Chuck...I...I-I dunno." Fly whispered, officially out of ideas.

Stella and Sasha sniffled next to Rina, burying their heads.

Just then, Stella noticed Rina's eyes glowed blue through the slits of her eyelids. "Auntie?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the water began to swirl around them, causing a whirlpool.

"Uh Chuck, is there such thing as a twister underwater?" Fly asked offhandedly. Chuck didn't bother to answer him as he quickly grabbed hold of a sturdy rock, tying him and the others down with his tendrils.

Meanwhile, Brutus continued to give Joe a piece of his mind, the angry side.

 **"Nobody's gonna mess with me!"** Brutus continued to shout over the whirlpool. **"You promised that I was in charge of the army!"**

King Crab flew in, grasping at Joe's fin laughing maniacally. "Hah! I'm in charge!"

"This may not be the best time for this CONVERSATION!" Joe struggled between being constricted and the sharp tugging on his fin.

Brutus glared at the crab, getting more and more annoyed at his yammering. Having enough, he chomped at the crab, swallowing him whole. He then turned his attention to Joe, feeling him shaking with fear in his grip. **"I'm calling the shots! You may be the one with the brains, but I'm the one with the muscle!"**

The whirlpool gave the shark a huge fling and sent him up into the surface, splashing headfirst into a waterhole with rocky walls. Brutus looked for an exit, but the openings in the walls were too small for a Fish his size to pass through. He was trapped.

"Oi! Get me outta here! **Boss**!"

Joe recomposed himself and gave a smirk. "So sorry, but you are no longer of use to me anymore, dimwit!"

"I'll kill you! I'll chew you up and spit you out, ya hear me!" Brutus called out as Joe easily slipped through the rocky openings.

Back at the sea floor, Fly and the others slowly recovered as the whirlpool dissipated back into calm waters. Rina remained curled up in the sand, tightly hugging her wound.

"Is it, g-getting cold? Or is that just me?"

Chuck pondered awkwardly. "Um, it might…might…" he couldn't finish his sentence.

"You still have time; it's only another five hours to sunset," Rina dragged across the floor, aiming herself in the direction of the boat lab. "Look, the professor's lab. You can still make it…"

"What about you?" Chuck asked.

"I'll be fine. You guys gotta go, your parents will be looking for you by now-ugh!" A sharp pain shot through her wound, causing her to whimper.

"No," Fly swam up and lifted Rina as best he could off the ground. Chuck followed Fly's intuition and began muttering logarithms in his head, scavenging the sea floor.

"What-what are you doing guys?"

"We are not leaving you behind."

"Guys, no. Fly...Chuck...chuck..." Rina's vision began to black out, only registering that she was being carried.

Then, nothing.

* * *

 _'Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Did you really think this was going to turn out all well in the end?'_

 _Rina was in human form and sat with her legs up in a ball, her face buried in her arms. Everywhere she looked, she could only see storm clouds and darkness. It was so lonely, it was almost suffocating._

 _'What were you hoping to accomplish in all this? That you could teach guilt and regret to a stupid pilot fish and love and affections to a shark? Ha! You really are the worthless runt in the whole bunch. **No wonder your mother died, she died of shame...'**_

 _Rina looked up, her face streaked with tears, her eyes nearly dead to what was talking to her._

 _'What? Something to say? Going to speak up for once and defend your existence with excuses like, "She died of natural causes!" Or, "It wasn't my fault!" Pfft.'_

 _Still sore from her wound, Rina shakily stood, her head held high._

 _"No, I was going to ask you something; Have you no other reason to be here but to tell me things that aren't helpful to me?"_

 _The owner of the voice faltered in giving a quick response._

 _"You always did have to have an opinion for everything, and none of them were really nice, but you know what? I don't really care what you think of my actions or thoughts! Even when I did something right, you had to chirp in saying I just got lucky, or that I would slip up eventually, or that what I did was so simple, a servant with no education could do it. You were always selling me short, and then turning around with that harsh judgment of yours when I made so much as a hairline mistake!"_

 _"I-I-How dare you talk back to me! I have the highest opinion over anyone in the family. What I say is law! I'm the one whose opinion matters most! Your family members thrive and succeed because of what I have to say and think! You hear me?! They owe it all to me, everything they are is because of me!"_

 _"True, they respect and value your opinion. But not me. Not anymore."_

 _"You're making a big mistake girl! You need me!"_

 _"I need you to go away father! Leave me, and never come back! This is my home, this is my mind, and your, not, WELCOME HERE!" Rina pushed her father back into the darkness, his cries of protest resonating to nothing but a whisper in the wind. Rina dispersed the gray clouds with her hands, resulting in the darkness turning bright blue, and the sun shining down on her._

 _For the first time in the past couple of days, Rina's mind felt at ease._

* * *

 **Interesting, so we get a little backstory from Rina. Hmm, I wonder how that whirlpool came out of nowhere, the story is now five hours prior to the professor making that pump, hmmm...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: What to do now?**

 **Finally! I had to rewr this story I dunno how many times till I got it right! Forewarning, no deaths. Enjoy!**

* * *

Rina awoke from her blackout just in time to see Chuck and the others at the entrance of the pipe system. Chuck was muttering algorithms of velocity and ratios while Fly lugged Rina inside a sock.

"What happened?"

"You fell asleep Auntie," Stella rode on Sasha behind Fly, holding up the rear of the sock to help carry her.

"We figured out how to navigate through the pump system," Chuck explained "The bottle of anti fish potion is on the professor's desk, so we just have to flood the lab using-"

"Wha-wait, hold up. That plan was before I got injured. I'm not strong enough to handle that pump; plus we'd end up in the aquarium with the piranha!" Rina tried to reason.

"Hand me that screwdriver and thread please." Chuck asked.

"What? Did you hear what I just said?"

"It's down by your tail," Fly directed.

"Screwdriver and thread." Chuck repeated.

Rina didn't argue, sifting around the bottom till she found the items she was looking for and handed them to Fly and Chuck.

Stella and Sasha swam ahead into the pump.

"No Stella, wait." Chuck grabbed Sasha's tail and pulled them back. "You cant take Sasha with you."

"Hmm?"

Chuck further explained, "Where we're going, it's to dangerous for little fish like her."

"Sasha's my friend, she's going to stay with me!" Stella held Sasha tightly close to her.

"Let her keep her; it's not gonna make a difference anyway." Rina said.

Chuck and Fly held stubbornly to their final word. "Stella, say goodbye."

"It's, for the best Stella" Fly added.

Sniffling in defeat, Stella rode Sasha aside and gave the most heart wrenching goodbye Rina and the boys ever seen; they almost felt guilty forcing her to part with someone she grew so fond of.

Stella joined Rina into the sock, being the only other fish not made to swim.

"Five hours, six minutes left. Now let's take this slow and steady, we got plenty of time. You guys ready?"

"Do it Chuck." Fly confirmed. With that, Chuck Released from the edges of the pipe, the current pulling them in.

Joe swam down inspecting the thread, then followed them into the pipe.

Thanks to Chuck's algorithms, he calculated just enough thread to stop just short of the sealed off pipe strainer. Quickly, he worked at the lid's screws one by one. Once he successfully opened the strainer, he untied the safety thread, screaming with the others as the powerful current pulled them in. Their attention was quickly diverted to the unwanted guest chasing after them in the pipe.

Chuck redirected his attention back to the pipe, just in time to see the blade fan.

"Hand me the fork fish!" Chuck shouted. Rina quickly yanked it out and passed it to Chuck.

While cranking up the toy, Chuck eyeballed their distance and speed then flung the toy smackdab in between the blades, stopping them just as the current pulled them through.

"Chuck, he's coming! Pull it out!" Rina and Fly, Stella included, began helping Chuck pry the toy out of the blades before Joe had a chance to make it through. He made it just as the blades began running, twirling him up a bit.

"The balloon!" Chuck yelled as they headed toward the turns in the pipe.

Rina passed it up so Chuck could blow into it, making into a makeshift airbag as they hit the sharp turns. Rina smirked amusingly to herself as she heard Joe grunt behind them as he hit the walls with full force.

But they weren't out of the woods yet. After they managed to navigate through the pipes unscathed, they ended up right in the piranha aquarium. The piranhas immediately took notice of their new arrivals, staring at them hungrily.

Chuck and Fly swam around them, leaving behind Rina and Stella in the sock.

"Chuck, Fly, where you going?" Rina called out.

They began making raspberry noises, getting the piranhas attention toward them. They dodged every one, leaving them lodged in the strainer. With no other exit to go, water in the aquarium started to flow over the top, paving the others a path out of the tank, into the lab.

"Five hours, three minutes left. We're gonna make it!" Chuck replied excitedly.

Joe popped in just as they made their way through the flooded lab, quietly following behind as they reached the table holding the antidote.

Fly and Chuck looked in awe, It was right there!

"We did it!"

Rina smiled but then frowned as she suddenly remembered something.

"Guys, wait. That's-" She didn't have time to finish as Joe hoisted the sock over her and Stella's heads, tying the top shut.

"I believe this dance is mine!" Joe grabbed Chuck and Fly, flinging them away from the table. Both boys looked frantically at the bottom for Rina and Stella while Joe took off with the antidote.

"I'll find the girls, you get the potion!" Fly called to Chuck. He nodded then pursued chasing down that fish.

"Stop!" Chuck shouted as Joe pryed the second pipe to the piranha tank off.

"So sorry, I can't stay for dinner," Joe gestured to the free piranhas, noting they were now officially peeved.

Chuck gasped in fear as they all surrounded him angrily. He gritted his teeth, now mad himself; just this once, he was going to be muscle of the group!

Rina and Stella managed to undo the knot on the top of the sock, getting out just in time to see their jellyfish nerd kick some serious piranha tail.

"Take that, you sawtooth suckers!" Chuck shouted, quoting from what Joe called the shark earlier.

Speaking of Joe, the three saw him just as he disappeared into the pipes with the bottle labeled "anti-fish potion".

"You stupid, stupid fish!"

Fly growled, angry they were once again potionless. "I'll go after him, I got an ide-"

"Let him go Fly." Rina stopped him.

"Wha-"

"Look near the tank, just under the pipe is my bag. Hurry!"

Fly did as she asked. He swam to the bag and opened it; he gasped.

"The antidote." Was all he could get out. He uncapped the bottle, taking a sip. He passed it to Stella, also taking a sip. Chuck, who finally walloped the last of the piranhas, gaped in awe at his now human cousins.

"Here Chuck, think fast!" Rina, still a Fish, passed it to Chuck. He gladly took a nice long sip of the potion, reverting back to human.

His relief was short-lived as he noticed one-they were now humans trapped in a room flooding with water, and two-Rina was still a fish.

"Rina, how come-"

"I've got some unfinished business to attend to. Besides," Rina pointed their attention to voices coming from the other end of the lab. "I think you got some visitors to entertain." Rina struggled out of the sock, her wound still not fully closed up. She capped up the remaining potion and brought the other potion in tow with her.

"Auntie wait! Don't leave!" Stella, now human, floated toward her.

"I'll tell Sasha you said hi!" And with that, Rina too disappeared into the pipes.

* * *

Just outside the pipes, Joe angrily tossed the empty bottle of antidote to the rocky sea floor.

"Man Joe, you got issues."

Joe turned to see none other than that wrecked fish he was embarrassed to share the same species with.

"Looking for this?" Rina held up the real bottle of anti-fish potion, swaying it tauntingly.

"Why you little-"

"Now now. Calm down, let's not get to hasty here," Rina spat back the same line he used earlier on Fly. "You know, I didn't even think this far ahead" Rina admitted honestly, swishing the antidote around. "I siphoned that bottle earlier, and coincidentally, that made me one step ahead of you! Don't you just love it when things just fall into place? Oh wait, you wouldn't know."

Joe sneered at the weak insult. She was getting on his last good nerve, but he for all his anger and frustrations, he had to observe something about all this. He drank more potion recently and was now twice her size; he could easily just take that potion right now from her, she was injured. She also wasn't as stupid as he led himself to believe; she just finished bragging about having the potion all along, why return to flaunt it in front of him? Was she just messing with him?

Something was off.

"It's getting to you, isn't it?" Rina called Joe out of his thoughts. "These past two days with me is finally starting to show you some errors in your judgment and actions? I could tell; you finally started paused and think about the 'why's' and 'how come's', instead of acting without a second thought. You're finally maturing into your intelligence."

Joe smirked at her tact at trying to use psychological warfare on him. "And you think I'm going to let my guard down and lose my focus just so you can make a fool out of me?! Nice try, my dear, but that's not gonna work on me a second time!" Joe made a beeline for the potion. When he was mere inches from her, he made a quick jab to her side, causing her to double over in pain.

"A second time!? I've been outsmarting you at every turn since you took the antidote! And only just now, you took a minute to start observing your surroundings instead of focusing on what you want!" She managed to wheeze out.

Joe set the bottle down and made his way over to Rina's curled up body. He seethed as he grabbed her roughly by where her neck would be, holding her at eye level. He relished in the choking sounds she made trying to gasp for water.

"You know, you really are a pretty fish. If it wasn't for that smart mouth of yours, I would have pursued you. Even now, you still won't shut up! Get it through your head deary, I won!" Joe finished proudly, crushing Rina's windpipe.

What happened next, Joe could only stare in shock.

* * *

Fly and the others excitedly embraced their parents in a group hug and told Mac Krill their amazing story.

"I'm just glad you're all okay," Fly and Stella's mother smiled as she held her children tightly. Their cousin Chuck, however, was having a bittersweet moment. Sure, he was happy being a human again and seeing his mom, but he still couldn't shake the worry he had for Rina.

"I just don't get it mom, she had the potion in her bag this whole time. Heck, she had it right in her hands. Why did she leave without turning back? Do you think she went back to that fish, to give him-"

"Honey! I'm home!"

Everyone's attention was directed to the soaking wet brunette in the doorway, her hands on her wounded side.

"Auntie Witch! Auntie Witch!" Stella pried out of her mothers arms and latched onto Rina's side, careful not to touch her cut.

Chuck stared in awe."Miss Rina, how-"

"I took the leftover potion after I got this," Rina held up a fishbowl, revealing a pilot fish.

Fly and Chuck ran up and stared at the fish in shock.

"You... I don't believe it. You got the fish!?" Chuck flailed him arms dramatically while Fly just tapped the glass, watching Joe swim aimlessly in circles.

"Chuck, relax. He can't hurt anyone in this state look," Rina held up the bowl in front of him, Chuck examining the blank stare the fish gave him.

Stella looked up at the fish and twisted her face in disgust. "Yucky fish."

Rina giggled at her reaction. "It's okay Stella; I'm gonna keep him somewhere-"

"You're keeping him!?" Both Fly and Chuck exclaimed.

She gave them a look, "Do I need to point out the obvious?"

"Professor, tell her she's crazy to keep him!"

Mac Krill, who had been quiet up until this point, stepped in. He took the bowl and examined the fish closely in his now harmless state, noting how, well normal it looked.

"I don't see any reason why not." He concluded, handing him over to Rina. "Even if he does turn intelligent again, he'd be in a fishbowl!" He giggled.

That seemed to put everyone at ease, sort of. They joined in his laughter and headed out to the shoreline.

"Hey professor," Fly walked next to him, his hands in his pockets "you mind if we start hanging out here by your lab? It seems pretty cool, I mean, for a lab."

"Oh! No trouble at all! I love company!" Mac Krill gushed.

Rina lagged behind everyone as Mac Krill saw everyone off.

"Would it be too much trouble to stay here a little longer? I'm not quite ready to go home, and it's such a nice sunset approaching."

"Oh! No trouble at all! No trouble! You are welcome here anytime!" The professor giddily trodded back to his boat to repair the vents and tanks.

Rina took one last look around before walking to the far end of the rock structure. The sun was just above the horizon, slightly tinted with the familiar hues of orange and pink Rina never got tired of drawing. She felt the nostalgia it brought every time she saw it; there always seemed to be some new memory she preserved in its golden radiance.

"Now to deal with you..." Rina held up the bowl; her Fish friend still out from earlier.

* * *

 _Rina began laughing; not the kind that questioned her mental health, the kind you give when you are amused but not really impressed when someone tells a cheap joke. Her cut, which was beginning to turn bruise purple from the hit, suddenly closed up and healed right before his eyes._

 _"You should've took a little longer to see the big picture," Rina gasped, pulling away from him with a strength he only knew the shark had. She held her fins out, beginning to grow larger in size, glowing a soft blue hue. Her fins grew into arms and fingers, her tail began to disappear, a pair of legs growing into their place. Rina's scales peeled off, revealing olive brown skin sprinkled with freckles. Finally, her head sprouted out dark, luscious curls, cascading onto her shoulders and back like a waterfall._

 _"Poor naive Joe, just how well do you know me by now?" Rina finished, now fully human before his eyes._

 _"I-I, but how-I-ah-"_

 _"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Rina used some invisible force to pull Joe toward her, incasing him in a bubble. "I'm... a witch."_

 _Now it was his turn to black out._

Joe snapped out of his stupor and took in his new surroundings. He seemed to be confined in a glass sphere of some sort. His focus immediately turned to the brunette female sketching away in her wrinkled journal, still damp from the seawater.

She turned away from her doodles to pass a glance at him. "Oh, awake finally."

He began thrashing and banging wildly on the glass, wanting to get back to his nation and get the hell away from her. Rina ignored him as he began hitting the capped top for freedom.

She uncapped the lid to the bowl, smiling mischievously as her little captor looked around to see he was above water with nowhere to run. Er, swim. He looked at her in fear for the first time, recalling what happened just before he passed out.

"Catfish got your tongue?" Rina half-joked. "You know, after all you've done, I have every right to turn you into fish bait and dump you in a fish market. You know that, right?" Rina spoke in a hushed cold tone Joe never heard Rina use before. She kept her gaze fixed on her sketch of the horizon, but he could tell her eyes were just as cold as her voice.

"Y-you wouldn't. You said you always think things through! You wouldn't sentence me without a second thought!" Joe desperately offered.

"For once, you're right. While we're on the subject, if I truly wanted to get rid of you, I would've done so the moment you and that lemon shark took that potion. In fact, I was going to, but I didn't. And do you know why?"

Joe shook his head, at this point a bit at a loss.

Rina picked him up and began walking along the cliffs shore, "You may not remember, and I don't expect you to, but some time ago, I came here in the afternoon after a really bad day. I wanted to go for a swim, hoping the cold water would clear my head of the unwanted thoughts. I was just about to head back; my feet were just touching the shallows" Rina recalled in fine detail. "I was that close to missing it- this thrashing sound in the distance. Out of pure curiosity alone, I decided why not check it out? Maybe it was nothing." She turned a corner and walked along a path paving just a bit out to deeper waters.

"I kept expecting it to be some bulky debris washed up on some rock, maybe the tide hitting some rocks just the right way, but I certainly wasn't expecting a lemon shark tangled in a fishnet." Rina stopped walking when she heard Joe gasp a little, almost picturing his thought process of suddenly recalling a moment in his past he had long forgotten.

She continued. "At first, every fiber of my being told me to just leave him be. It wasn't any of my business whether or not he died, and I had no place there anyway," Rina set him down near the edge of the shores, near a wateringhole.

"But..."

"I'm getting there..."

Joe recognized the surroundings of this particular waterhole, with all those rocky walls lining it.

'Oh no, don't tell me...'

Sure enough, the head of a lemon shark, with cuts along its snout, emerged from the waters.

He looked curiously at the visitors, wondering whether or not he should eat them.

"Hello Brutus, we were just talking about you."

"Eh, do I know you?" Brutus inspected the now human Rina, absolutely certain he had seen her before but still couldn't pinpoint where. She looked pretty.

Joe's eyes widened. She wasn't going to feed him to the shark, was she?! He popped his head out the top of the bowl to further protest, but Rina shushed him."Brutus, think hard. Where have you seen me before?"

'Thinking. Mmh, not his strongpoint.' Joe thought to himself.

Brutus tried really hard to pinpoint where he saw this familiar human thingy. His thought traced back through the carnage, his instinct telling him to feed, backtracking all the way to a memory of how he got his scar.

He remembered a time before he was intelligent (well, intelligent enough to speak). He recalled swimming near the cove to feed on a school of tuna passing by; he was so engulfed in his instinct to feed, he didn't notice the nets from the boats gathering up the tuna. He swam straight into a stray net, snapping it right off the reel of the boat.

He remembered the pain; it was like hundreds of needles digging into his face. He tried to untangle himself from the net, thrashing wildly to get the thing off. This only succeeded in entangling him further, the net getting secured on a jagged rock.

Even though he wasn't intelligent at the time(and barely was now) he knew that he was panicking at the time, not being able to see much and the needle-sharp pain becoming unbearable. At this point, he could only hope that if he struggled hard enough, he'd be able to break free from the bonds.

Then out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one of those human thingies swim up to him and stare at him cautiously. Now that he was currently smart-ish, he could tell from his memory that this particular human was a female; what with her tiny frame and those long dark tendrils coming from her head.

Then It hit him.

Brutus snapped back to present time and looked up at Rina, who at this point was sitting patiently with her legs crossed. Joe, however, was sitting at the bottom of his fishbowl tapping his fingers repetitively.

"Has it sunk in yet? Or do you need another hour?"

"Boss, er, is that-"

"Yes, you dimwit! This girl is the same fish who coddled you like a guppy for the past two days and the same girl who saved your sorry hide a while back; this is Rina!" Joe announced begrudgingly.

Rina raised a brow at hearing Joe call her by name finally; usually, he'd call her "my dear", or "deary", not that she minded.

"So I understand sparing the shark because of those sentimental reasons, but what does that have anything to do with me? You think I'm going feel indebted to you just because you saved his life?"

"No. Being nothing but kind and considerate on top of saving his life makes him," she pointed to Brutus, " indebted to me."

Joe saw where she was getting at. Even if Rina was nothing but a pilot fish with no powers, she still had the sharks favor on her side-and that didn't take much. It was true what the shark said; Joe may have been the brains, but he was the one with the muscle.

Rina let out a heavy sigh. "Unlike you, I have mastered the art of strategy; I like to make sure I take everything into consideration. Sound familiar?"

Joe narrowed his eyes at her, knowing she was recalling his impulsive decision to fire shark before thinking of later consequences of his actions. He sighed in defeat.

"Ah, see? Now you're learning! But to be honest, I'd be lying if I said there weren't times I had to improvise." Rina stood waved her hand out. The rocky walls of the waterhole deteriorated and pooled back into ocean, carrying Brutus along with it. "After all, I'm limited when I'm around non-magics. You can't narrow your decisions based on just one component, what if you don't have it anymore?"

Brutus jumped out of the water with glee."Thanks Rina! Uh, what'd ya gonna do with boss? Should I eat him?"

"No, not that," Rina said humorously. "He's coming home with me."

"What!?" Joe cringed at the idea of being reduced to a mere house pet. Rina picked up the lantern fish bowl and swung the strap over her shoulder like a purse. "See you later Brutus, and no eating fish that can speak!"

"You got it boss, Er, miss!" Brutus hopped back into the reef to resume his hunt for his next meal. Rina happily sighed and gathered up her things.

"My dear, have mercy! I-I'll stop building my nation, I'll go back to being an unintelligent fish, anything but reducing me to your bag accessory!" Joe pleaded.

'My god, he makes it sound like I'm gonna cook him up and eat him.'Rina remained silent as she trotted over the ocean on the rocky path back to civilization. Little did she know, there was a whole other problem waiting for her at home.

* * *

 **Well, certainly didn't see that comin, but then again, you know witches. So mysterious in their endeavors, what could she be up to? Find out in the next chapter- don't be shy in commenting your thoughts!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Just what I needed**

 **I am so sorry this took so long! And that it's so short! I promise I'll get the next one out before you can say swordfish special! Enjoy!**

* * *

On the way home, both Joe and Rina were silent the whole way.

Rina was lost in thought of what to do with her new, um guest; Joe was too consumed in his thoughts of relatively the same thing. Sort of.

'What's she gonna do to me? Is she gonna kill me at her house? No, she would've done that already. Torture? She is holding me hostage, but she already taunted me when she was still a fish; that was abject humiliation right there! Use her powers to turn me into a krill? No, she doesn't seem the type. Maybe-'

"Thank the good lord! Where have you been, I've been calling for hours!?"

Joe's thoughts were interrupted by some scrawny girl in a suit gritting her teeth at Rina; the bags under eyes were a clue to Joe she hadn't slept in a good while, or was an insomniac.

"Tomo, what're you doing here? The deadline's not for another two weeks." Rina calmly replied, tucking Joe behind her subtly.

"That's what I came here to tell you! The deadline's been moved up to this Wednesday!"

"What!" Rina took no time to run up the driveway of her house, plopping her bag and Joe in her sitting room and rushing upstairs with Tomo hot on her heels.

While the girls were ranting in the rooms above; Joe took this opportunity to take a gander at his captor's living quarters.

The walls seemed to have some design printed on it, the tops and bottoms covered in a vintage molding that gave it an old-but-good-old air about it. The paintings seemed to be self-drawn, their frames a curlycue gold accenting to the vintage look.

Upon every shelf, every counter, every table were trinkets of glass jars filled with dried plants, candles in holders or lanterns, or plants of every shape and size.

Joe may not have been all that knowledgeable about witches, but if this house didn't scream "witch" no other house would.

"-I just left him on the table, it'll just take two seconds!" Rina came trotting down the staircase and scooped up Joe heading for the back of the house.

Outside her backyard, it was a menagerie of flowers and trees as far as the eye could see. It had colorful gem-stoned walkways, a table with tools to grind and store plants, and in the center, a pond.

Uh oh.

"Don't even think about it!"

"Ready or not!" Without a second to brace for impact, Rina emptied the lantern-shaped fishbowl into the pond, not even bothering to take the bowl with her.

"Now you stay here and try to keep your voice down; anyone finds out about talking fish, I'll have Ringling Brothers on my front door."

"Who?"

"Just try to put a lid on it, just for the next two hours till I can get you inside." Rina could hear her friend inside scrambling around the office trying to get ahold of some pens and ink. She rolled her eyes and ran off.

Two hours? More like all night. Joe lost count of how many laps he did in the pond, and it was fairly spacious for a small body of water. He gave up trying to find a drainage pipe to lead him back to the ocean, hoping to get out of this nightmare. When did everything get so undone? How did he allow himself to get to this point; now sitting in someone's backyard pond like some koi fish, waiting up on some human like she was his master until she finished her work...

Come to think of it, putting aside the fact that Joe never really cared till just now, he never once heard Rina talk about her background.

He could tell she was lying when she said she was an experiment that was given the gift to talk, explaining her vast knowledge the upper world and such...well, now he knew why she lied.

Also, while stating the obvious, she possessed magical skills in witchcraft; no doubt the explanation to her victory in outsmarting him, bet she used her black magic to read his mind or something. One would think he'd pick up on it sooner, but then again he had only just acquired speech and thought process within a short period of time.

She seemed very keen on being knowledgeable in various fields of study as well; it was one of the few qualities he actually respected about her. However, her personality was so, so, well...elusive. Even Joe couldn't doubt her tact at being able to ease into, through, and out of conversations and jump right into something else, but when it came to accompanying him at the meetings, she always took a rain check and retreated to his office, alone. And he never wondered why, until now.

That just didn't add up. Why shut yourself away when one-you are a powerful witch, and two-you have formidable communication skills. If he were all-powerful, he'd waste no time to brag and exploit the attention that came with being magic.

Something else that caught his attention, her ethics. While she would constantly try his patience with her snarky comments like calling him "average Joe" or "G. "(whatever that meant), he noticed a look she gave after every single one, like she felt bad when she said something so sharp to him.

Was she pitying him?

That couldn't be; he was the leader of a nation of exceptionally intelligent fish, a king in the eyes of the masses. Why would she feel pity for him when he had everything? Well, everything at the time?

He had to know; being left alone to really analyze her made him now more curious than ever to figure her out. Something must've happened in her past that would evoke such nonconformist thoughts and decisions and he had to find out what; it might be of some use to him in escaping this limbo and regaining his beloved nation again.

* * *

"Alright, just one more page then it's ready for the final draft." Rina carefully skimmed through her third rough draft before okay-ing it for the final draft of her story.

"Thank heaven! I don't think I could've been able to talk my way out of pushing the deadline another two weeks." Tomo straightened out the other five hundred proof sheets for the fifth time, carefully slipping them into an orange packet for safe keeping.

"Well, then maybe you shouldn't text me it's okay to take my time with finishing up my work when you aren't even sure you pushed it to begin with."

"I said I was sorry; it was a misunderstanding with the publishers. I could've sworn I told them to ease up on the timeframe so you could get you two seconds of alone time."

"It wasn't two seconds; I said I wanted two weeks to clear my head and not think about work. Two weeks to sleep, two weeks to draw, two weeks to clean, two weeks! Not two days!"

"By the way, was that a fish I saw you lugging over your shoulder?"

"Yeah, pretty isn't he?"

"Is he one of your, you know-"

"Yes and no. He's a work in progress at the moment."

"What are you gonna do with him?"

"Done!" Rina handed her friend the last page and collapsed on her soft carpeted floor. "I knew I loved this carpet for a reason. So soft..."

"Rina," Tomo put the proofs into her briefcase and sat on the floor with her friend, equally exhausted.

"What?" Rina groaned, not wanting to stay awake for another second.

"You didn't tell me what your plans were for your new 'guest'. Don't you think it's a little, you know, what you're doing? I mean, whenever you bring-"

"Tomo, I am a grown woman. You know better than anyone I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I can stop anytime I want!"

"How about now?"

"I said anytime I want."

"Right." Tomo rolled her eyes at Rina's comment; she knew she was never gonna get her to stop, even if she begged. And she tried.

"Besides, he needs me to help him out."

"I don't see why you can't just walk away. The first two were okay, I guess, but you never know when they are going to stab you in the back, even with your...special skills."

Rina, against her body telling her to lie down and catch a couple winks, sat up and looked straight on at her friend "Tomo, remember when you first started working with me, how no one liked you because you were so snobby and kinda out of it?"

"Don't remind me, I still feel stupid for acting that way."

"And now look, you are so much more caring and feeling compassionate than anyone could ever hope to see out of you."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Aren't you glad that out of all the experienced editors I could've chosen, I chose you? And that through working for me, I got to show you a whole nother world besides the one you saw in the mirror?"

"You made me into a kind and loving person,"

"Because I saw you needed guidance and was more than willing to lend it to you. And aren't you better off like this?"

"Okay, I see your point, but I still think you should be more careful with the company you keep,even if their lives make good page-turners."

"I'm careful. I'm always careful; who knows bad guys better than someone who used to be one?"

* * *

The night stretched on, the moon gliding lazily through the night sky till the first light of morning peaked through the horizon through the trees.

A very worn out Rina trudged through the backyard, having finally finished her deadline by a hair.

"Sleep well?" Joe asked sarcastically.

"What sleep?" Rina said in a dead voice. "If I never see another writers pen, it'll be to soon. That woman needs to get her dates right, I swear."

"What did you even do? It's not like when you were my advisor, you had somewhere to be."

"I'm a writer for a company that sells books; I am one of their most bestselling authors, and they apparently got my publish dates mixed up. Usually, I'm given a longer leash so I don't have to report to the office till I've finished my work."

"Hmm, I don't care." Joe moved to the edge of the pond, edging towards the bowl. "You mind?"

"Hey, you asked." Rina picked up the discarded fishbowl and scooped him up. "You were lucky to actually get a good nights sleep; why're you so cranky? It's not not like you were up all night with anything."

Joe didn't answer her; unbeknownst to Rina, he was still groggy from waiting up all night to batter her with questions.

He had it all figured out- he would ask her questions about her past, gain her trust, find her weakness, then back to the ocean they go! Now if he could just find the willpower to stay awake long enough to start asking the questions.

"Joe?"

"Hmm?" He answered, a little disoriented.

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" Rina entered her living room and began to climb her stairs to the attic.

"Gee, what gave me away?"

"Your attitude; its much more pricklier than usual."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"No, I am not going to put you back in the ocean, and no , I am not giving you the anti-fish potion."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet." Rina said in her elusive tone. "Maybe I'll just keep you here till I know what to do with you," She held him up so he could see that they were in some kind of dusty old room. In front of them, there was an old fish tank with odds and ends sitting on top of it.

"Through personal experience, I've learned this is the best way to tear down a persons barriers: solitary confinement."

Joe felt like he was going to be sick."You're not going-"

"I dunno. Should I?" Rina stared him down, daring him to come up with a reason.

"Um, well, we could just call it, water under the bridge?"

"Hmm, nice try." Rina waved her finger at the tank, magically removing the clutter and filling it with water. She conjured up some gravel and a tiny box marked "prison", humorist that he was in jail. In actuality, she was only going to hold him there for a couple of days to leave him alone with his thoughts, sort of like a time-out.

She wasn't that heartless!

"No, please! I beg of you, give me another chance!"

"I'll think about it. In the meantime, goodnight!" Rina once again poured Joe roughly into the tank, skipping tauntingly as she made her way to slumberland.

Joe took a good long look around; he was nowhere near anything useful and she had the windows shut so he couldn't tell when the sun set or rose.

'When I get out of this mess, I'm going to feed that girl to a barracuda!'

Meanwhile, Rina got ready for a major catnap when her phone blares up.

"Please don't let it be a call in." She checked the phone, reading it out loud.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention you are invited to some ritzy event going on uptown. I made sure it was a charity event before even considering an R.S.V.P, bring a fat check, lol."

Rina pondered this a moment before passing out in her bed.

"A charity event full of rich snobs, sounds more like Joe's scene than mine."

...DING!

* * *

 **Well, I wonder what she has in store for our little troublemaker. And what's all this about dropping bits of her past, but no whole? Only one way to find out, read on!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: A Test Run**

"Codfish. Anemone. Squid ink-wait..."

Joe was at his limit. In the past hour alone, he had read every title on every visible surface he saw, named objects he could recognize due to his newfound intelligence like "lamp", "stairs" and "book", and was currently searching his brain for how to make the anti-fish potion. He theorized that the potion Rina had made him was incomplete; it required an extra ingredient to make it anti-fish, so he recited what he knew from memory and hypothesized what could be the potential last ingredient. Mostly, he was only doing this to escape the boredom of sitting belly-up in a fish tank. She could of at least set him near the window so he would have **some** form of entertainment to amuse him while he was locked up in this infernal place.

"Bored already, are we?"

Joe pried his head up to the bane of his existence, holding a suit?

"I don't suppose in the short time you were ruler, you ever learned to dance?"

"Not that I recall. Though I would've stuck it in some footnote of my very busy schedule. You know, after I finished my monuments and gotten my hands on that potion."

"Hmm, well today you will learn the waltz."

She say what now?

"Oh, as much as I would benefit from the distraction of boredom you put me in for the past two hours; I'm sort of preoccupied in this tank right now." Joe confirmed this by swimming in circles in his little cage.

"Aww, don't let that stop you," Rina pulled out the bottle Joe practically jumped out of his tank to make a mad grab for; the potion.

"Is this a trick?"

"Cards on the table: I have to go to some party with a bunch of snooty stuck up rich people who are probably only there for status rating or whatever, and I have a plus one I am required to bring as my, ahem, date."

Joe raised a brow at this, was she asking him out on a date?

"Uh, purely business relations of course! No romance of any kind, and I figured it'd be something you're into, plus I kinda need a good distraction from the other quote-unquote guests."

Joe pondered this a moment. Now Rina wasn't stupid; even before he knew she wasn't really a fish, Rina showed impressive strategy and deduction skills even he had to acknowledge. That being said, what was the hidden agenda behind just using him as a distraction from shmoozing with others of her own kind?

A handsome distraction, mind you, but why him?

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. So long as you don't do anything 'evil', I won't turn you back into a fish. Cross my heart!"

Joe narrowed his eyes at her before making a decision "Fine, but I get to lead in the dance, and no heavy drinking, I don't want to have to drag you on my back if you end up intoxicated."

"Deal!" Rina popped the lid off the bottle and transferred joe out of the tank into the middle of the floor. Joe, of course, didn't like having been limited his water supply, but as soon as he felt the potion pass his lips, that was quickly forgotten.

It was a little painful, mind you, growing new appendages. It wasn't like when he grew new fingers; he had two stalks pop out from his lower abdomen, his outer layer of scales were being ripped and shredded from the mass he was growing internally. All of that was nothing compared to the sudden replacement of another organ while the other seemed to dissipate and vanish. It was like someone forcing him to hold his breath by choking him, then the strange sensation of breathing something so thin, he started involuntarily hyperventilating from the new sensation.

Rina had covered him in a blanket she had set aside earlier and began coaxing him to breath normally with his new lungs.

"That's it, slowly, this is a lot to take in, I know." She patted him till he finally snapped back to reality, shaking the high he got from the sudden evolutionary mutation.

"Feeling better?"

"I think so." Joe answered between breaths.(note: even a villain has his moment of weakness, especially when u go from fish to man in twenty seconds)

"Good. Now I know I shouldn't ask you till you've calmed down, but can a human breath underwater?"

With his newly evolved brain, Joe quickly rationalized of course not- they-oh...

"No."

"I can tell by your face, you just realized?"

"But you said you'd change me back?"

"Ask me again in six hours. Until then, you might wanna put these on," Rina held out a pair of drawers. Why would she-gah! Joe realized his bits and pieces were now on the outside of his body! He quickly snatched the piece of clothing and began to dress himself. He only got as far as the drawers until he started having trouble with the buttons.

"I would have expected that from Brutus. If it wasn't for your age, I'd have considered that a little funny." Rina began showing him how to do up the buttons on his shirt and proceeded to help him with the tie.

"You've done this before." Joe observed.

"Sure, dressing is one of my many talents, next to cooking and making my bed."

Joe rolled his eyes, that was not what he meant at all. He felt ridiculous in the fact his brain could decipher the square root of six-thousand, five-hundred and fifty one but he couldn't tie a tie or button his shirt.

What was wrong with him? Not enough potion?

"Okay, last part, the jacket, then your all done."

Joe looked in the mirror of the attic. Not that he had to brag, but he looked sharp. She gave him a suit with thin red lines that gave a very businesslike appeal complete with accents of red and gold cufflinks. The only issue he had was his hair. It was sticking out in all directions, and to be honest, a little on the oily side.

"You can fix that in a second. Afterwards, we need to go to my friends' place to get you some dance lessons!"

For a fraction of a second, Joe thought to try to kill Rina now that he was human, but he quickly remembered he still needed to figure out how to change back and forth from being a fish.

He stared at her then took a long sigh,"Very well, but you're not going to a party dressed like that, are you?"

Rina's cheeks flushed as she fumbled at the skirt of her simple light blue summer dress.

"Maybe."

"If I could be so bold as to see your wardrobe, my lady?"

* * *

"You what!? I knew you were gonna pull something like this! Why didn't I try to talk you out of it this time!? This is going to be a very bad idea! Oh, I'm already feeling a migraine coming on, and a termination!" Tomo began breathing into her inhaler and fanning her plump red face from imploding.

Meanwhile, Rina and Joe sat cooley by the doorway, sharing glances of silent speech

"how much longer is she gonna go for?"

"Her limit is about an hour; but we don't have that time to waste."

"Should I hit her?"

"No, she'll just rant more. And longer."

"My new feet are getting tired"

"Oh, and mine don't feel just peachy in these stilettos you insisted on me trying on?"

"Right. Touché."

Finally, Tomo showed signs that whatever she was trying to rant about was coming to a close, her face flushed pink, huffing and puffing from the unfamiliar effort.

"Are you done?" Rina was used to her fiend acting this way, but knew she was always full of it when she said her ideas were all really bad ones, so far.

Tomo gave a heaving sigh then looked to Rina. "Ah- what are you wearing?" She pointed out the dress Rina was fidgeting in for the past twenty minutes she was relentlessly ranting. That, and she was wearing makeup for the first time.

The dress itself wasn't bad, just revealing. The dress had no sleeves and was tight in the midriff area, something Rina would never wear. She liked dresses she could twirl and move around in comfortably with ease; that dress, while flouncy in the skirt region, looked constricting.

Especially stifling on her chest area.

"I think she looks positively ravishing in that ensemble, even if it is dark blue."

"He wanted me to wear red so we'd be matching."

"Is this why you are thirty minutes late for your cram dance lessons?"

"That, and he insisted I wear makeup." Rina pulled Tomo aside so she was in ear shot. "He can't button up a shirt, but he was able to contour my makeup like it was nothing, how weird is that?!"

"Does he know how to dance?"

"I was under the impression you were going to teach us, oh bespectacled one." Joe gave her his signature creepy smile as he loomed over the two puny women.

"No." Was her final verdict.

"Come on Tomo."

"I don't get paid enough, and don't you even think to bribe me!"

"Fine, I'll ask the guys up at the corporation to give you a raise and some paid time off."

Tomo growled in frustration a little bit. Whenever she said no, Rina always did this. Not that she was complaining about a raise, but she hated how her friend treated impending doom like one handles a board game, you can't just bribe your assistant every time she resented a bad idea.

"And I'll buy you a whole new wardrobe, whatever you want."

Facepalm.

"Gr, fine! You there, front and center!"

Joe humored her did as he was told and stood in the center of the large floorspace.

"If you even so much as step on on of her toes-"

"Relax Tomo, I bet he doesn't even know what those are."

Tomo flailed her arms up in defeat, turning on the stereo for tonight's music accompaniment.

"It's a no-brainer, the basic waltz. You hold your partners hand in your right hand, while you steady her waist with your le- Rina! I meant his right!"

Rina blushed a little from the miscommunication, having also confused Joe when she took his left hand then fidgeted when they were called out.

"Now, you just side-step right, then back, then left. All while turning in a clockwise-er- Joe! That's not clockwise."

Joe rolled his eyes as he tried turning the other way, satisfying the little tyrant.

All in all, Rina was a little impressed at the fish's learning curve; he mastered the waltz faster than she did, in her defense he was leading most of the time.

Circumstances aside, Rina was glad Joe was putting forth an effort to hold a truce.

Even if he was evil.

"Okay, that was two try's away from being almost perfect. Joe, you don't need to lead Rina through the WHOLE dance; you can ease up and let her take the reigns."

"If I did, she'd step on me again. I'd rather not have my new shoes scuffed from uncoordinated feet."

"The fact those were bought with my money aside; he has a point. I'd sooner send him in my pond than attend another one of these yuck-fests."

"We are already cutting it close as it is. We only have a few minutes to get to the guest checklist announcer."

Joe couldn't decide if he should've laughed from the ridiculousness of these females, or ring their necks.

"Relax, Tomo. We can just warp there with seconds to spare."

"Wait!" Tomo ran out and returned with a paper bag and a pair of Q-tips. Joe raised a brow at this, but shrugged it off since he really didn't care.

"Okay... and warp!" Rina grabbed Joe and Tomo's hands as a swirling blue light appeared under their feet, engulfing their vision till they saw a familiar mansion belonging to their preppy, judgie host.

"This is going to be a long night." Rina's face dropped to brooding as swarms of paparazzi began circling them.

Joe didn't mind the attention, Tomo was annoyed at the lack of a path to get inside, and Rina was busy hiding behind the two to really think of a way inside.

"Yes, Miss Rina and I are very close; she even assisted me in a few construction blueprints to expand my marine empire."

And that was her cue...

"Oh that Joseph! He's so enthusiastic with his marine engineering research! Really, we must be going." Rina shoved her two human shields in front of her and used them to shove the cameras aside so they could enter.

Inside was exactly what you'd expect- red carpets with gold trim, white marble pillars with paintings on the ceiling that resembled the sixteenth chapel. In front of them were wide stairs leading to a large hallway of doors; one of these doors emanating with voices of sophisticated higher-ups, the cream of the crop so to say.

 _Nice to know he didn't lose his sense of taste in tacky._

"I must say, you humans certainly have an exquisite taste in decor. Why isn't your home like this, Miss Rina?" Joe said, taking in appreciation of the expensive atmosphere.

"I'm substance over style; I'm not one to spend millions of dollars to look the part of a millionaire. I know I have that money, that is nobody else's business."

"Oh." Joe deadpanned in a clearly demeaning fashion.

They entered the ballroom astounded. Everyone was dressed in elegant clothes, fine jewelry, and...masks?

 _Oh, well he was one for mischief._

Rina looked over the doorway and saw the announcer stocked with a box of masks of different kinds.

"I call dibs on the pink one!" Tomo picked up the pink and gold mask with diamonds around the eyes, it made her look like a princess.

"I'll take the least ridiculous mask you got."

The announcer hand chose a simple black mask with pointed ends on each side resembling fins. Rina chose the white mask that covered her entire face; it had gold trim with ribbons coming out of the sides. The announcer retrieved everyone's attention to announce the new guests, but Rina wondered how, he didn't even-

"Presenting our new guests, Miss pretty pink, Mister Mystery Black, and the elusive White Diamond!"

Everyone clapped accordingly and welcomed their new guests as they descended down another set of stairs.

"So far, I'm skeptical about your humans idea of entertainment." Joe whispered in Tomo's ear. She shuddered at his intense voice and stood closer to Rina.

"I'm sorry Rina, I forgot to mention this was a masquerade party; we are supposed to unmask and see the donors at midnight. The host insisted."

"That's cool, at least no one will bother me." Rina couldn't help but notice the air of uneasiness that seemed to hang in the air, particularly from some of the male guests. They seemed familiar.

"Who cares, didn't we come to dance?" Joe urged, not wanting the two miserable hours prior spent learning the waltz to go to waste.

As if on cue, music played to indicate the dance to commence. Joe fancily held out his hand for Rina. She humored him and gracefully accepted the dance.

It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't all to great either; Joe kept trying to hold her tighter around her waist to get to her bare back. It wasn't uncomfortable so much as it was ticklish, and by god would Rina start giggling like a hyena in front of all these people, high or low class alike. Again, she noticed the tense uneasiness mixed with something else, something stifling.

"You know, I really am trying." Joe moved his head closer so he was right in her ear. "I had even considered making a living here, starting over."

"You could try being CEO of a company; I've got some connections."

"You really are to good for your own good."

"Oh, smooth." Rina gasped a little when Joe moved to dip her then finished with bringing her in real close.

"Smooth like this?"

Rina sighed. Why did all her "guests" do this?

"I-"

"Hello there. Mind if I cut in?"

 _That voice..._

Rina turned to see a man with tan skin and dark sleek hair, his face hidden with a turquoise reptilian mask. Like clockwork, the stranger pulled Rina away from her "other project" and maneuvered her around the crowd, away from a slightly irritated Joe.

"Working on a new novel, I see."

"Well, I-"

"I certainly never expected a bookish author like you to wear such a pretty number. Was that the influence of your new friend?"

"How did you-"

"I never forget a face, especially not a shy, awkward one like yours."

She was wearing a mask, how did-Then it hit her.

"Indigo?"

"Marina?" Indigo pulled her close so no one could see him remove his mask slightly to reveal his deep blue eyes that looked like sapphires.

Joe, finally recovering his other anxious escort, couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She may have been a major thorn in his side and reduced him to being basically a pet, he still harbored possessive feelings for her. "So, you wish to fill me in?"

Tomo anxiously hiked up her skirts and scrambled to the group, instantly recognizing those gripping eyes,"Rina, is that-"

"Long time, no see spazz."

Tomo frowned at the undesired nickname; he called her that because of her frantic pacing and jitterings while he visited. Indigo picked up on her mood and gave her a friendly pat on the arm, seemingly calming her.

"So Indi, you have any idea what's this about?"

"Yes and no. I know who's pulling the strings at this shindig, but I don't know why though; charities aren't really his thing."

The crowd hushed as the lights dimmed low and their host showed himself.

He wore a simple suit with a red cummerbund and a red carnation decorated on his breastpocket. He wore a red mask that only covered half his face, showing his right green eye and tufts of orange-red hair.

"Hello, my fellow horrors. Hehehe."

 _Slappy._

* * *

 **I am so so sorry I didn't update. I figured this story wouldn't get any traction, so it wouldn't be missed if it stagnated. But I have been touched that someone actually read this and is looking forward to another chapterAgain, very very sorry about the wait. It won't happen again. From now on, I'll attempt chapter update every two weeks. Thanks!**


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